Inspired crafting to beautify your life

Today’s project is from Shanty2Chic – which I just discovered and is one of my new FAVORITE blogs!! Take a look at the HUGE project gallery and you’ll see why! The DIY Photo Canvas project highlighted here is an example of how easy their projects are, but how finished they look when complete.

I say “their” because this site is a joint effort by two sisters, Whitney and Ashley. Check out the DIY Photo Canvas tutorial HERE and browse around their website (I could NOT find a button, sorry!).

I would bet that after looking at their huge project gallery that you will either be following their blog or pinning 90% of their projects (or doing both, lol). Have fun!

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Chris tells everyone the secret of her beautiful painting and finishing on two posts about this gorgeously remade piece of furniture! She got this FREE and redid it herself. Check out her blog and look for her posts about her buffet table.

This is the FIRST post, and here is the SECOND post with the details of how she physically turned it into this beauty!
Also, click on her button to check out her current projects, and all that she has going on…

By the way, here is what it looked like before she got her hands on it:

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Today’s highlighted site is actually a business. But because Creating Harmony is all about inspirational creativity, I wanted to put this here. This is a really fun piece that functions as artwork, a focal point, and a photo center!

The website, Trading Phrases, is absolutely FULL of creativity! I enjoy that they have FREE STUFF like this, and CRAFT PROJECTS , blog links, and tips! I haven’t bought anything from them, and they don’t know me from Adam (!), so they aren’t paying for a mention, but this is a site worth checking out!

The alternatives would include painting it on yourself, permanently with acrylic paint (meaning you’ll have to paint over it some day) or, if you are determined, you might create your own with a silhouette (I guess you could do it in bits & pieces…). But I like the idea of using the vinyl. Some things are worth buying, then adding your own touches!

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Today’s project is a beautiful piece by Johnnie over at Saved by Love Creations. She has worked using paper in the past, just look at her tutorial page for the links. Here is her blog button…

I have been following her blog for quite a while now, and though it seems like it has been around for a while, its not that old! Yet what a following she has! People know quality when they see it. Like the necklace I’m highlighting today:

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In our neighborhood the trees are really starting to show their fall colors. This morning after church we took the kids out to grab some fast food from Sonic (did you know they offer breakfast? haha) and we took our lunch up to a local preserve near our house. We took in the gorgeous colors of the mountain across from ours, and talked about the patterns the trees made – there were lines of yellow, orange, and red. Glorious!

But back at home I’ve started to see more fall decor as well!

This is today’s Fall Front Porch Decor showcase:

This is the porch of Emily, from DecorChick:

The reason I chose Emily’s porch is her use of the vibrant fall colors, her fun full garland surrounding the door using Command brand hooks, and her use of last year’s wreath that she updated with more leaves to match the red in the garland. I love it! I also love those bright orange pumpkins. And the wheelbarrow. Even the doormat is in on the fall festivities! Go take a look at her site and see how this little entryway was transformed into a big beautiful welcome with TONS of personality!

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Out in blog-land, you will see so many porches beautifully decorated for fall. I wanted to highlight a few of them…

The first post I want to highlight is from Custom Comforts. I chose her 2010 porch photo for several reasons. The first was its simplicity. There are some decorators who go all out and just FILL their porches with seasonal decor. Most of us can’t and don’t want to spend that kind of money. I felt that the Custom Comforts‘ porch was something everyone would love to do, and could really fit in many budgets.

The bench (on the left) is something she probably uses as an accent all year long, and all she did was artfully arrange some pumpkins and mums at different heights (bench, porch, and step) and add a dramatic bouqet on the door – and voila! HUGE effect!

I didn’t find a button on her lovely site, so be sure to click on the photos or the links I’ve provided.

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Around here, as much as I think some Halloween decorations are so cute, I don’t decorate for that holiday too much.

Sometimes I suspect its because I often forget to decorate at all, so putting “fall” decor out in October, that can count for Thanksgiving, works best for me! I usually put some corn stalks around my light pole, along with the fake (but pretty) sunflowers on a vine. Then I’ve done the very minimum that I can call holiday decorations!

Here is a project that is perfect for Thanksgiving and beyond, but the choice of colors makes it a great match for autumnal celebrations!

This “Be Thankful” board, by Becky at The Crafting Chicks, is a project that has a quick return. In my case, I don’t have a silhouette, so I bought some alphabet letters with sticky backs, from Jo-Anne’s Fabrics. Otherwise, this simple project can be made with things you probably have sitting around your house!